Reopened Fiddich gets great reception in Craigellachie
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IT'S party time at the Fiddich – the tiny Craigellachie pub which reopened at the weekend.
The bar has been closed ever since the death three years ago of its legendary former landlord Joe Brandie.
On Friday evening, though, nearly 40 revellers crammed into the miniscule bar – it measures just 15ft by 12ft – to celebrate its rebirth.
Now renamed the Fiddich Arms, rather than the Fiddichside Inn, the plan is to open the bar every Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Ali Hunter is the woman behind the resurrection.
She said: "It's been amazing. I had no idea that so many people love the place so much.
"Folk have been coming from all over Moray and beyond. And, because we don't serve food yet, they've been bringing their own sausage rolls and pies and other things to eat.
"It's been crazy busy with everybody squashed together, but everyone seems to enjoy it."
Ali, who lives near Elgin, is quite open about the fact that's she never been involved with running a pub before.
She said: "A friend kept on at me about how sad it was that it had closed, and wouldn't it be great if someone took it on.
"It's not what I do at all, but the more she said it the more things started to turn in my mind.
"Anyway, we managed to find an investor and here we are now.
"It will probably be a comedy of errors at first, but there's so much goodwill from so many people towards the pub and for what we're trying to achieve.
"I want to say a special thank-you to the local businesses in and around Craigellachie who have been fantastic, and also to Derek Ross, the local councillor who's been very supportive."
Ali adds that her teenage son Guy has also been a tower of strength in handling the online side of the business.
She continued: "We don't want to turn the pub into a shrine to Joe, but we do want to keep his legacy going."
Joe Brandie died at the age of 88, having worked behind the bar for 60 years.
A warm-hearted character, he and his wife Dorothy, who predeceased him in 2009, were bedrocks of the village.
